The Verdict

Bravo to Samsudeen Sarr for His Incisive Book

By Adama Hawa

 

The book; Coup d’etat by The Gambia National Army, written by Colonel Samsudeen Sarr, former Commander of The Gambia Armed Forces, is no doubt an important contribution to contemporary Gambian literature. Apart from the incisive venture into the mentality and characteristics of those involved in running our country since 1994, the book is also an invaluable historical record of an important milestone in Gambian history.

 Of course, this is just one side of the story, and it is possible that there is a precarious side to Sam’s own contribution to the still unfolding events of the coup which we have not been told in the book, but the mere fact that he has taken his time and efforts to write his experiences and perceptions, is certainly worthy of commendation. Therefore, if those he has mentioned in the book are indeed not guilty of those heinous atrocities he has accused them of committing, we expect them to also come out from their cocoons and tell us their own versions of what happened. We can assure them that Gambians are capable of judging the facts from the fiction.

 

Indeed, reading the book has really made quite a big impact on the way I perceived a lot of things, including some of the personalities involved. I was one of those who had a lot of respect and admiration for Captain Edward Singhateh (above), but from what I have read from the book, my perceptions of him have certainly taken a nosedive. While Sam has not given much concrete evidence of some of the atrocities he accused Edward of committing, his presentation of the events sounds quite credible. For instance, apart from the routine tortures he meted out to detainees in prison, the killing of Koro Ceesay, as well as other atrocities attributed to him, he also quoted Singhateh telling them after their release from prison; “you probably have heard what happened to Lieutenant Barrow when he attempted to challenge the authority of our great leader Chairman Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh. Anyone who tries the same thing will suffer the same fate as Barrow. We have hit squads prepared to deal with anyone at any time.”

 

Sgt. Kanyi (killer) & Musa Jammeh Butcher

Therefore, if indeed all those attributes are true, then Edward and all members of his death squad such as Batch Jallow, Kanyi, M’boob, Marong and Fatty deserve to be immediately handed over to the International Criminal Court at The Hague to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. It is the same for Yahya Jammeh’s torturers and killers like Major Musa Jammeh, Alhagie Martin, Kawsu Camara (Bombarde’), Major Ousman Sonko (Interior Secretary)

Interior Minister Sonko is a notorious killer

and all other identified killers, whether or not they are still serving in the GFA. It is sad however, that the other two notorious killers; Almamo Manneh and Tumbul Tamba are already dead without getting some retributive justice.

 

However, the very fact that President Yahya Jammeh has not only been condoning these heinous atrocities being committed under his very nose, but that he was said to have sanctioned most of it, means that he is just as guilty as everyone of them. In fact, as their ultimate leader, his guilt should be even greater than most of them.

 

Of course, I agree with Sam, in one of his narratives that the blame for the coup rests entirely on the attitude and comportment of ex-President Sir Dawda Jawara and his regime, for not only his lackadaisical style of administration, but for remaining in power too long. If he were quite sincere when he announced his retirement during the Mansakonko PPP Congress in December 1991, there would never have been a coup less than three years later.

 

However, it appears that Yahya Jammeh and his thuggish administration have not learnt from the lessons that led to the demise of the PPP regime. Instead, they seem to be not only committing even bigger blunders, but Yahya Jammeh seems to have also been so intoxicated with power that he has no intention of ever giving it up. Therefore, it is becoming quite apparent everyday that it is only a regime change that can remove him from power. Indeed, he may not be as lucky as ex-President Jawara to escape unscathed during such a process. This is because Yahya has stepped on too many toes and in the process, earned the wrath of many people, who would no doubt want to see him suffer a worse fate that anyone ever wished for Sir Dawda.

 

I tend to agree with Sam when he said, “the opposition forces among the civilians may come up with all kinds of plans to oust President Jammeh through the ballot box, but in reality, only the gun that put him there would get him out.”

 

Narrating his first encounter with the coup makers, Sam tells us how superstitious Yahya Jammeh had always been. He told us how when he met them in the swamps that Yahya “in particular had all kinds of juju ropes over his neck and head with a filthy one in his mouth. The bulge on his uniform would tell that he had more underneath it.”

 

Once again, this goes to explain Yahya’s queer behaviours, including his crazy claims of having a cure for HIV AIDS and other incurable diseases, using the Holy Quran and other funny herbal concoctions.

 

Sam went on to describe Yahya as not only having a low level of education and a strong belief in the Marabout and juju phenomenon for personal progress, “the man was hungry, angry and generally very rebellious.”

 

In another paragraph, Sam described Yahya as a fool who did not command any respect from his colleagues in the junta. “The fact that over 72 hours, he wouldn’t even have a bath or change his uniform, underwear, socks and boots he had been wearing, plus his jujus covered with animal hides, making him stank (sic) horribly was enough to make him look like one fool. His physical looks did not help him either; the dry, bony configuration of his face and his split infectious lips or his exaggerated mouth caused by human nutrition deficiency (locally called ratatoy) made him look like the ugliest person in the entire army. He smoked and chewed kola nuts excessively and looked like he had never used toothpaste and brush in his life.” Sam added that for anyone to think such a person was going to be Head of State of The Gambia “or any nation in the world…was really repulsive.”

 However, from what we know of him, it is getting obvious that Yahya’s ultimate downfall is likely to stem from his open antagonism against Senegal, particularly his open support for the Casamance rebellion against the government of Senegal. “His support for the secessionist rebellion in southern Senegal was not a secret to even strangers, much more to those of us close to him then. He was one person who had really believed that Casamance belonged to the Jolas, members of his ethnic group who for centuries were the majority among the diverse tribes inhabiting the region.

To Jammeh, he said the only way Casamance could gain her true independence was through armed struggle. “To fight for freedom in Casamance against the Senegalese government was justifiable and absolutely legitimate,” he quoted Jammeh saying.

 

Another glaring irony of events was the death of Lt. Sadibou Haidara, the junta’s first Interior Minister and Spokesman who was always following Lt. Sana Sabally to arrest and torture people. He was quoted saying that he was not going to allow any sick prisoner be taken to a clinic, let alone to a hospital. “I would be very glad to perform the burial ceremony of any person willing to die in my prison,” he was quoted saying. Yet, by a twist of fate, this very Haidara was not only incarcerated in that very prison he called “my prison”, but was also tortured there and like he reportedly did to sick prisoners, was prevented from going to hospital by Edward Singhateh until he died. Therefore, if that is not enough lessons for those brutes still ruling this country, I wonder what else would be.

 

Another interesting scenario was how the mouthy and big bluff; Major Momodou Bojang had to abandon his base at Kudang Camp when he was informed about the coup, on the pretext that he was going to get his bulletproof jujus, but never to re-appear until a few days after the coup.

Hon. Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay

 In a different chapter, Sam touched on the egocentric character of the present Speaker of The Gambia National Assembly, Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay who, as a mere street girl caused so much havoc and destruction to innocent people’s lives, that one would wonder what she can now do as head of our Legislature. He narrated how she was going around to all the members of the junta reporting other people as being against the military take over. “She talked a lot to make her presence felt everywhere, spreading all sorts of stories about names of civilians she said were against the take over. I was afraid that the reports of Permanent Secretaries destroying classified government files could have originated from her,” he wrote.

 

Another civilian who was also featured in a bad light was Fafa Mbai, the junta’s first Attorney General and Minister of Justice. Sam describes him as “a Gambian legal scholar with no conscience whatsoever… whose resentment of the members of the PPP government transformed him into an extreme callous official. He had, with no fear of God or respect for human decency, advised the AFPRC on every way they could be dictatorial and not being legally culpable for their crimes.”

 

However, the gullible puppet Vice President, Isatou Njie-Saidy did not also escape from scrutiny, especially, about her shameful role in the April 2000 student demonstrations when the security forces shot and killed more than 14 students as well as Omar Barrow, a journalist with Sud FM radio station. He wrote about how she went on radio and television to announce that the security forces were armed only with rubber bullet guns, which Sam said “was a blatant lie.” Indeed, from that day, Isatou Njie Saidy lost all the credibility and respect she ever had amongst decent Gambians, and now continues to be seen as just another appendix of this brutal regime.

VP Njie-Saidy "A Blatant liar"

 Another government agency which came under Sam’s microscope was the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), which he described as “just not unprofessional but was the most unethical institution in the country, managed by a boss Mr. (Samba) Bah who had basically hired semi-literates, con artists, swindlers, rogues and racketeers to run the agency. He also described one of its former officers, Foday Barry as “another swindler and extortionist,” while showing his total disrespect for Abdoulie Kujabi, who was at one time Director General of the NIA. He described Kujabi, as “a very small man with visible deformities on his eyes and legs, was a watchman who used to call himself storekeeper before the coup.”

 

However, the funniest part of the book was when, as part of his superstitious antics, Chairman Jammeh was attacked by honey bees in his home village of Kanilai and had to run for dear life, while trying to prove his false supernatural prowess. “By all indications, I believe Jammeh was somehow dangerously committed to the world of fetish and charms that at times took complete control over his thoughts and actions. At times he would act so recklessly for a man of his status to the point of endangering his life and the lives of other people,” wrote Sam.